Preparation

1

1.To prepare sauce, heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add canola oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add shallot, and sauté for 2 minutes. Add 1/3 cup water and next 3 ingredients (through red pepper), and stir with a whisk. Bring to a boil; cook a minute or two. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice about 5 minutes after cooling. Set aside.

2

2.To prepare both fillings, first spread crumbled tofu in a single layer on several layers of paper towels; cover with additional paper towels. Let stand 20 minutes, pressing down occasionally. Or if in a hurry, press the tofu with both hands to remove excess water, crumble into pieces.

3

3.Heat a large nonstick skillet or pan over medium-high heat. Add sesame oil to pan; swirl to coat. Brown the ground pork until cooked through, then add 1/3 cup green onions and tofu; sauté for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Separate half of the pork/tofu to another skillet or pan for the Korean filling.

4

4.For the Thai filling: add cilantro (if available), soy sauce, ginger, sugar, and Sriracha; sauté a few minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. For the Korean filling: add the gochujang and remaining ingredients; saute a few minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

5

5.Slice up cucumber, carrot, and remaining green onions into long strips. Wash and rinse each Bibb lettuce leaves under cold water. Plate the fresh greens and vegetables together.

About

With the recent scorching hot weather, we wanted something light and refreshing for dinner (basically anything besides spicy and hot). We thought about doing a cold noodle dish (though I dislike any kind of "cold" meals), but with the weather being this warm I think anything would have tasted good. Luckily, we found something fresh and light in the form of Thai & Korean-style lettuce wraps with a really nice hoisin-peanut sauce. We found it in one of our many food magazines, and like most recipes, we tweaked it for the kids' sake and toned down some of the spices like ginger, garlic, and peppers. The recipe below is the "adult" version and should ramp up the taste and flavors to really make it something worthwhile. Since